A recent update to the client removed one of the older chat display styles, added and tweaked avatars, modified some chat related things, and removed the Beta label.

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker)

If you're an astute observer, you'll note from various postings on the internet that there is indeed chat functionality inside the client, but it is disabled.

The reason why it isn't enabled is simple. The servers aren't ready to handle it yet.

Having said that, chat will be ready soon(tm)

Better answer would be "chat is not ready yet" than "servers can't handle it"
You're right, poor choice of words. Chat was definitely not ready, but it is closer now.

The problem with the chat system was related to when you're logged into multiple games at the same time. For purposes of this discussion, Battle.net app is considered another game.

See who is online (You'll need friends for this). In a future update (coming soon) you'll be able to chat with them too. (Source)

Blue Tweets

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

Classes"We want to reduce the amount of buttons required to play and make the game easier for players who come back." WHY DUMB IT DOWN?
Reducing the number of buttons required is not the same as dumbing it down. (Celestalon)

More behind the scenes of class design:There are hard many parts of designing a spell, but most people wouldn't guess one of the hardest. Naming it. Giving a spell a good name is paramount. It has to be representative, awesome sounding, appropriate, etc. (Celestalon)
One of the most difficult things is resisting the urge to use "Divine" or "Holy" on a Paladin/Priest spell, *again*. (Celestalon)

Keeping 100% uptime on DOTs and performing a filler rotation is not engaging. Intelligently using procs is
Intelligently using procs isn't going away. (Celestalon)
Don't mistake snapshotting's removal for procs not benefitting you. Procs' effects are just restricted to their duration now. (Celestalon)if that is the case are we looking at dynamic updating of DOTs in Warlord's?
Yes, that's what removing snapshotting is. (Celestalon)Since it Dynamically updates there's no other point. Basically DoT classes are boring now?
No, pretty sure you're misunderstanding something fundamental. DoTs are updated on every tick, not when they wear off. (Celestalon)

Artwill you update the character login backgrounds along with the new models? The UD one is very outdated. Thanks!
I agree those need some love, maybe not at same time as characters but its something we've wanted to do for a while now. (artofcgrobinson)

Hello good sir, with the new character model updates in WoD i was hoping to see an option for long beards for my casters!
cool idea, not adding extra options with this pass, hope to do so in the future. (artofcgrobinson)

Proving GroundsAny plans for handling scaling of CMs/PGs different in WoD? Scaling down 120 ilvls makes classes play very differently.
We're investigating the potential of scaling PGs up to your ilvl. Not a guarantee, just an investigation. Has Pros/Cons. (Celestalon)

PvPWill most classes only have one viable spec for pvp (like warriors) in WoD? would be easier to balance?
It is a decent goal for classes that only have one role, but not for classes that have multiple. (holinka)

Can you implement the SotA bomb extra action button in IoC as well?
Yes eventually. (holinka)

you know why resi should be in gear? Smooth resi scaling. Suddenly added big resi feels bad. Takes time for gear to fix.
Certainly true. But the whole player base doesn't gear at the same rate, specifically ungeared players entering the game. (holinka)

Was leaving resilience on heirlooms an oversight? Maybe it could be replaced with something more useful?
Resilience is on all lower level gear (holinka)

why didnt you reset mmr?
We don't reset MMR because it is system designed to match up players of equal skill. We do reset inflation however. (holinka)

Hearthstone - Golden Heros
Starting with the next patch, 500 ranked wins will earn a golden hero for you, complete with animations. You can find out more on Hearthpwn.

My God, what a horrible creation. People seeing what they want? Thank God they tried to shy away from that. I know it pisses me off when I'm in an heroic raid, yet in the back of my head all I can think is 'some casual player is playing a heroic dungeon and not wiping.' -Vodkarn

Sucks they removed realm first leveling achievements. I managed to get realm first 85 and mage first 90.

Preparing for the leveling process by playing the beta actually made me enjoy the questing experience allot. I managed to take a good look at all the quests multiple times while figuring out the fastest lvling path. Now they removed the achievement there is no point in actualyl checking out all the quests and I'll just rush trough it randomly after release.

Silly thinking, acting like a realm first achievement is actually 'content' and creating 'content' for only 1-3 people is bad design makes no sense at all. I'm sure hundreds of people per server are going for realm first and it motivates many players to dive into the expansion the moment it gets released, which is an awesome experience for many.

With no raids released the first week, and no realm first achievements available, what are you actually going to do the first week? Level to 90 day 1, get all dungeon gear day 2-3 and log off day 4-7?

Im glad blizz wont be adding realm first for leveling and profs this expansion, it ruins the experience of leveling. I felt the need to compete I couldnt pay attention to the story and game. And I always thought it was silly because blizz says that they wont let you fly till max level in previous expansions and this time it wont be till the first patch so you can experience the environment yet they put in something that gets you to rush through all of the content in a short time.

Lets face it every expansion the realm first max level has gone to the person who spends most of beta looking for a way to exploit (sorry I mean clever use of game mechanics) in order to speed through the content, doesnt bother to report the exploit, then normally we get the usual 'world first character set back some levels' all whilst the forums get to be filled with 'Blizzard should of fixed in beta' 'player x 6 hour mob tagging marathon for nothing' posts

I for one couldn't give a damn about not being able to compete for my servers 'server first 100' this time round

I have not been playing lately due to changes in my life, but wanted to come back for WoD to do the race to server first Warlock etc...

I loved that rush of spending 24+ hours straight leveling super fast and competing with the other guys ... I'd actually take time off to work to do this. It was the "once every few years" event where all guild was on voice comms for 20 hours plus... some would crack, some would fall asleep, and some basked in glory. Tremendously fun. Disappeared, just like that.

Thanks Blizz. It's not like there was time / resources used by this.

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by Jackelyn

Lets face it every expansion the realm first max level has gone to the person who spends most of beta looking for a way to exploit (sorry I mean clever use of game mechanics)

Nope, I have seem countless people beat the BETA testers just because they play better.
I didn't even play beta past level 87, and still got realm first versus people who had played the beta extensively. Im not a special snowflake, but there definitly more than just "duh beta people know content".

It's levelling. the content is easy you dont need to know it if you have half a brain you can win.

I completely agree with them removing Realm Firsts. All it did in past expansions was encourage people to ignore the content and just race to max level. I didn't pay attention at all to MoP content on my first 90. I still didn't get realm first because people were exploiting like crazy on my server and I wasn't. It's a lot of work for Blizz to track down people exploiting, take back their achievements, then find out who legitimately got realm first. Realm first is not content. It used to be something special but now it's just a game of "who can exploit the fastest and most efficiently".

I never attempted any realm first leveling achievements, and never intend to, and I'm annoyed it's removed. It's not just for 2-3 people per class, it brings a server together when everyone gets to know the runners and people cheer for others. Yes, it's here and gone within days of release, but it's one of the few things almost everyone looks forward to. There's an entire social element that dev is not getting (whoever the hell he is).

I never attempted any realm first leveling achievements, and never intend to, and I'm annoyed it's removed. It's not just for 2-3 people per class, it brings a server together when everyone gets to know the runners and people cheer for others. Yes, it's here and gone within days of release, but it's one of the few things almost everyone looks forward to. There's an entire social element that dev is not getting (whoever the hell he is).

Lol I have never once had people cheer people on that were going for the achievement. As a matter of fact, I've witnessed more hostility than cheering towards people who were close. As I said, it encourages people to basically ignore the content and just race while finding the best exploits.

I completely agree with them removing Realm Firsts. All it did in past expansions was encourage people to ignore the content and just race to max level. I didn't pay attention at all to MoP content on my first 90. I still didn't get realm first because people were exploiting like crazy on my server and I wasn't. It's a lot of work for Blizz to track down people exploiting, take back their achievements, then find out who legitimately got realm first. Realm first is not content. It used to be something special but now it's just a game of "who can exploit the fastest and most efficiently".

I got realm first 85 and realm first 90 mage doing nothing but questing with a friend of me (2man group). Getting these achievements without exploiting was perfecty doable on most realms. Ofcourse I did proper research on beta what quests/zones to skip.

Lol I have never once had people cheer people on that were going for the achievement. As a matter of fact, I've witnessed more hostility than cheering towards people who were close. As I said, it encourages people to basically ignore the content and just race while finding the best exploits.

As I wrote above, removing the realm first achievement actually will let me see less of the zones instead of more.

Going for realm first: 1) Play trough all questzones slowly to figure out all quests, experience the whole story of every zone. 2) Try a few different leveling routes and figure out how much you need to do to reach max lvl. 3) Figure out what routes are most efficient/what quests are worth skipping. 4) Play your optimal route ~2-3 times.

Not going for realm first: 1) Play trough some questzones at random, skip random quests/zones and miss half of the story.